The Balance Community Pond
A 15 minute walk from Stables Studios takes you to the big pond. Through the woods you go, not knowing quite what to expect, and suddenly the tupid vegetation comes to an end. The short, green grass feels good on your bare feet, the sunlight caresses your skin; you look up and finally see it. Mostly untouched, there it stands. As you walk along the side of the pond, you can’t help being amazed by what looks like a spider web. It’s hard to tell the difference between each webbing crossing from one shore to the other. All the lines are still empty, you and your friends are the first ones there. Early morning has its perks. The empty waterlines and the cool water make the stoke go up. Which one are you gonna get on? 190 meters of tripled up Mantra scare the shit out of you, but 210 meters of double Spider Silk are looking at directly at your soul. She shines under the morning sun, with her backup perfectly spaced, ready to be played with.
Ropes are fixed up in the trees for you to ascend...
as all slacklines are anchored between 10 and 15 meters high. Having the right gear becomes important; in order to get on the lines you must jug up the fixed ropes. Put on your harness, double back it, connect grigri and ascender to both rope and harness, build a 3:1 and up you go.
Are you nervous about sessioning such a big line? Maybe a little bit, but you know that each fall brings the refreshing feeling of sinking into the water. As you stand up and take a couple of steps, the side movement gets into your head. At first it seems challenging, waterlines always make you feel like you are falling to the side. A few more steps go by and that feeling is still there, but you seem to have more control. Spider silk is a dream, a side walk above the water. It feels so good to cruise on this low stretch high tech webbing; you think you are never gonna fall, but as you approach the second half of the line your mind gets a little distracted.
Common, hold it! tight core, bend knees, breathe. Nope, leash fall alert! before you know it you are soaked. Oh man, there goes the send, but who cares about that when you are suddenly refreshed, your friends are cheering you from the shore and you feel at home.
After more walking, more falling and more friends arriving to the pond, you are about ready to get off the line. There is no need for jugging anymore for someone else to take your place. Your friend paddle boards to where you are at, and as you untie your leash he gets on the line, which is saggy enough for him to reach from the paddle board. Your session has inspired him, he high-fives you and gets on the line. You get off and enjoy paddling all over the pond.
A few more people have arrived, but the Balance Community Pond is so spacious that it never gets crowded. New and old friends become a joyful aquatic family. You can gaze around people doing all sorts of cool stuff.
To your right, Taylor is having a blast bouncing the 106m double Lift while Eli and Brook are competing in an exposure battle on the two 100m+ Areo 2. The single strands of Mantra and Flight (at 50m and 60m) are giving a hard time to everyone but River, who manages to get some yoga positions in. In the middle, ten people are bouncing a three legged space net, trying to launch little Lily into the water. Other friends are hanging out in the second space net, a really nice one, all made of amsteel, tensioned on the shore in between trees.
Doesn’t matter how much water is beneath you, because most of the Breathe community has come here to fly. We sometimes fly over water until we fall into it, other times we fly right into the water, and there are times where people fly each other. Suspended in the air, we all fly and help everything else fly with us.
